


A Painter Gone Blind

by idrilhadhafang



Category: Star Wars Sequel Trilogy
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst with a Happy Ending, Fix-It, Knights of the Old Republic vibes, Kylo Ren Redemption, Loss of Powers, M/M, Slow Burn
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-09-25
Updated: 2020-09-25
Packaged: 2021-03-07 23:15:01
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 906
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26645857
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/idrilhadhafang/pseuds/idrilhadhafang
Summary: Hux deposes Kylo and strips him of the Force, and Kylo is left to pick up the pieces.
Relationships: Poe Dameron/Ben Solo, Poe Dameron/Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Poe Dameron/Kylo Ren
Collections: Darkpilot Creator Breakdown





	A Painter Gone Blind

**Author's Note:**

> Disclaimer: I own nothing. 
> 
> Author’s Notes: Title from the Revenge of the Sith novelization.

“I came here because I wanted to propose an alliance with you.”

It was Hux who faced the Knights of Ren. He never thought he’d be facing beings who were the antithesis of who he was and what he believed in (though no less violent) but desperate times called for desperate measures. 

”An alliance?” one of the Knights (Hux would be damned if he knew. They all had ridiculous masks. At least it wasn’t just a Kylo Ren thing) said. 

”Yes. I think it’s obvious that we’re sick of our buffoon of a Supreme Leader. He’s impulsive, immature, lacking any charisma or leadership abilities, he’s incompetent...even putting aside the fact he treats his underlings poorly, he’s a sorry excuse for a leader. And of course, he expresses hesitation in trying to kill Commander Dameron. Unacceptable.”

”You believe he is a danger to the First Order and the ren?”

 _Oh stars, not this again_... “The First Order, yes,” Hux said. “After all, he didn’t even get where he was legitimately. He was the one who killed Snoke...and I have proof. The process was a long one, but still...”

Hux couldn’t read the Knights’ faces as he played the recording that Mitaka had recovered of Snoke’s murder, but he could imagine their cocked heads said volumes. 

***

It was when the Knights of Ren and Hux betrayed him that Kylo tried to fight them off. Tried to, at least. It was Ushar who, abruptly, knocked Kylo’s lightsaber out of his hand, knocking him to the ground. 

”Sounds familiar?” Hux said. “Bested by a girl who never held a lightsaber...bested by a man who never did either.” A beat. “It’s striking, isn’t it? Seeing that no one in the First Order sees you as anything more than a tantrumming child in a ridiculous Vader wannabe mask, no one wants you back, not even your mother — and you didn’t see it coming that I would betray you? It is fitting, isn’t it? That the betrayer would be, thus, betrayed.”

Kylo tried to think of a way to argue with Hux. Tried to. He found that he couldn’t find a good rebuttal. Hux was right. The First Order saw him as a joke. They followed him, but they did not respect him. 

”You called the girl nothing,” Hux said. “Oh, you’d be surprised what you can recover from the security recordings on the Supremacy. At least she has talent, Ren. Respect. You...have nothing.” A beat. “Ushar, care to take out the trash?”

Kylo glared up at Ushar just then. It was hard to read the Knight’s face behind his mask. Hard as anything. 

“This one’s not worth killing,” Ushar said. “But we can punish him in other ways.” A beat. “In the days of the Sith Triumvirate, Sion and Nihilus punished their master by...a unique method. A very Jedi method.”

Purple. Purple beams, even as Ushar drained the Force from Kylo. Even as Kylo could feel it, like having a sense taken away. Like it was just...gone. 

***

Kylo didn’t know where he was when he woke, if he was to be perfectly honest. After all, the structures...

He was on some sort of landing pad. That he knew. Lying on a landing pad, and all his senses were blinded at once. 

Hadn’t Arawn Sinn described the Force as like being in daylight for the first time? If that was the case, Kylo was in a night without end. 

He forced himself to his feet, just then. He was no longer Supreme Leader. He wasn’t even a Jedi or a Knight of Ren or anything. He was no one, plain and simple. All these things yet nothing. But he could find a place to stay for the night on...oh. Tatooine. 

Tatooine. It seemed like the rest of his family, he was going to have bad luck with this place. It seemed to run in the family, he could only assume. 

Still, he supposed, he would need to rest for the night. Rest. That was what he needed. Rest. 

Hux’s words were still strong in his mind. Had he really been that way, towards Rey? All but shoving in her face that her parents were drunks...but that wasn’t her fault, was it? Had he been that jealous, that Skywalker had “chosen” Rey over him? 

(Then again, it wasn’t much of a choice. It was like Luke hadn’t even bothered to train her, to support her. That, Kylo thought, sounded too familiar. They could have something in common just through that)

Speaking of Rey, Kylo couldn’t feel her anymore. Like someone who should have just been there, but plain and simply, wasn’t. A lost limb, a lost sense. 

He shouldn’t have missed it. 

He did anyway. Like something just expected to be there. 

And Ushar...he hadn’t even thought of Kylo as worth a quick death, or even a slow one. Unless being cut off from the Force was a slow death. 

And maybe he didn’t belong anywhere. Had joining the First Order just all been for nothing? 

Growling in frustration, Kylo stepped out of the hut. He placed his lightsaber in the sand. Maybe he could still use it; after all, his father, Force blind as he was, had managed to use a lightsaber to cut open a tauntaun. But Kylo doubted it. 

At least, whatever lived beneath the sand now could have a good meal. 


End file.
